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Will Amazon's Kindle Fire Top Apple's iPad in China?

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is working hard to sell Kindle e-books in China, but the company recently hit a few regulatory hurdles that could slow down this initiative.

Once those issues have been taken care of, Amazon will be free to invade China with a plethora of tablets and e-readers. Next year, it might even have a smartphone to add to that list.

(How did Apple oust Android from the top spot in the smartphone market?)

When that day comes, all eyes will be on the tablet space to see what kind of an impact Amazon may have on the market, if any.

Thus far, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Amazon have been the only two companies that have released a successful tablet in America. In August, Amazon announced that it had acquired 22 percent of the domestic market.

Tablets from Samsung, Motorola, Research In Motion and other manufacturers have yet to garner a significant share.

Google is having some success with the Nexus 7, but without any domestic sales or market data, it is impossible to say exactly how well the tablet is performing.

By leading with the Kindle store in China, Amazon appears to be somewhat neutral — like a non-threatening aid to Android and iOS. In reality, the company is cleverly planting the seed for massive growth. It may not be ready to sell its tablet in China, but when that day comes, millions of consumers may already be accustomed to Amazon’s platform. This could be crucial to the Kindle’s global success.

Even then, Amazon will still be forced to compete with Apple, which has already acquired a significant portion of the growing tablet market in China. The iPad accounted for more than 70 percent of the two million tablets that were sold in China last quarter. Amazon will have to work really hard if it expects to meet or beat those sales figures.

In addition to the brand advantage, Apple also has the luxury of selling iPads through its own retail outlets in China. While they may not produce the long lines that consumers expect to see in America, Apple Stores have proven to be a key part of Apple’s worldwide success.

This is one of the reasons why Amazon is rumored to start building its own stores in America — to compete with Apple on its own turf.

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